Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

Russian Orthodox Thugs Threaten Gays

A group of Russian Orthodox thugs took to the streets of Tblisi in the nation of Georgia to threaten gay people and demand strict repression in advance of a planned gay pride event. More than a dozen people were injured. See how familiar this sounds:

Thousands of anti-gay protesters, including Orthodox priests, occupied a central street in Georgia’s capital Friday, with some threatening to lash with stinging nettles any participant in a gay pride parade which was to take place there.

Police in Tbilisi guarded several dozen gay activists and bused them out of the city center shortly after they arrived at the gathering. Those occupying the street held posters reading “We don’t need Sodom and Gomorrah!” and “Democracy does not equal immorality!”…

A number of protesters carrying bunches of stinging nettles threatened to use them on gay activists. They insist that homosexuality runs against Georgia’s traditional Orthodox Christian values.

Father David, a priest who was one of the organizers of Friday’s anti-gay rally, said the parade “insults people’s traditions and national sentiments.”

Please note that the denomination itself is called “Eastern Orthodox”. Each country typically has its own sovereign church, so these bigots belonged to the Georgian Orthodox Church, not the Russian Orthodox Church.

And the outrage over this violent, ugly act coming from the Eastern Orthodox communites in the west has risen to the level of the Roman Catholic and African Anglican outrage expressed by the Kill-the-Gays acts in Uganda and other places.

So I guess then this means that threatening people, in a non-self-defense context, with “stinging nettles” is entirely in line with “Georgia’s traditional Orthodox Christian values.” Says a lot about said “values,” none of it good.